Former French Rugby captain turned sculptor Jean-Pierre has
been a sculptor for more than thirty years. During the early
1980s Jean-Pierre met the sculptor Albert Feraud and his vision
of the world and of life were rapidly altered. This association
would never go astray. Each artist follows his own creative
path, but the shared emotion remains intact and is continually
renewed. Jean-Pierre is the first sculptor to have a solo
exhibition in the Jardins du Luxembourg in Paris since Rodin.
Jean-Pierre’s sculptures are represented in major collections
all over the world including Cap Gemini’s at La Fontaine.
Whilst Jean-Pierre Rives has at least in the last decade more
or less continued to use the same materials and method in his
work, it is possible to classify his works in two main
categories. One group advocates the style of the great classic
sculptors, who radically changed the concept of sculpture and at
the same time, have nevertheless retained the main
characteristics of sculpture in its traditional sense. With this
style he focuses on proportion between objects on the
distribution of weight, on creating a centrepiece for the
composition, on structuring the elements of his work around a
focal energy source or an imaginary space where an intellectual
transformation can take place.
His other group of work is more in the style of the great
realists, inspired by Nouveau Realisme (New Realism). With this
style, the elements in his sculpture function as objects, which
briefly demonstrate their original qualities, features and roles
determined by their original contexts. In this way, a
recognisable object is not transformed into an abstract form; in
other words, the sculpture is composed of real objects, real
physical fragments from the real world.
Things which fill our world are placed next to each other as
real objects and are manipulated, destroyed and above all, have
their function altered, without, however, losing their physical,
material, functional identity. The observer perceives the
structures as objects and tries to understand the reasoning
behind and the way in which they have been assembled. He does
this based on his previous experiences, his knowledge and
memory, comparing them with this structure that provides another
interpretation that cannot be drawn purely from the objects
themselves. In this context, real materials, colours and traces
of chemical and physical processes are dominant, thereby
reinforcing the perception of reality. The artist is stepping
into reality, carrying out his assignment using the real
elements available. The sculpture is, therefore, perceived as
ordered reality, or as fragments of reality.
David Handley from the Sculpture by the Sea organization who
had invited Jean-Pierre to participate in the Sculpture by the
Sea – Cottesloe 2007 exhibition introduced Jean-Pierre to Ron
and Terrie Gomboc. From this introduction he was invited to
extend his residency at the Gomboc Gallery art foundry in order
to create four major outdoor sculptures and a number of small
scale sculptures for the 24th Annual Sculpture Survey.
Excerpts from Jean-Pierre Rives Biography by Kent Wallace
